Devotion.al

Tag: inherit

  • Road Inheritance

    Road Inheritance

    Psalm 23; Jeremiah 10:1–16; Colossians 1:15–23

    Psalm 23:3 reads, in effect, “God helps and guides me along the paths that are best for me.” Note that it doesn’t say, “God will make me…” We choose to follow the guide, or we choose not to. That isn’t all that comforting, especially as we look around us. Free will is the ability to choose the wrong path.

    Jesus said, “Go in through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people enter through it. 14 But the gate that leads to is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) In today’s plethora of choice, it might be rewritten to say, “there are plenty of roads to choose, many of which are attractive, fun, enjoyable, and scratch our itches. However, the road to True Life is hard to find among all the options, and there is very little on the road that makes it attractive for the world to follow.” Or you could say that the “narrow road” is a one-lane road, and the broad road is an 8-billion+ lane one.

    The Church and its people, however, still remain too attracted to the “ways of the nations” and the “signs in the sky” (Jeremiah 10:2). Regardless of political affiliation or social issues or a myriad of other things, the Church gets distracted very easily. Now, this is not to say that the issues that the world face are not our concern. Quite the contrary. We are to look to Christ first so that we are equipped to bring , , , and . Instead, we look to and the talking heads that of the issues of the world to guide us. This crosses (pun intended) all political and other ideological lines.

    What also comes of this is our inheritance. There just might be a reason why God speaks through Jeremiah of the unique inheritance of the descendants of Jacob. We are those spiritual descendants (not necessarily of blood), so we should be paying attention, too. Our inheritance is not the world’s, and for that, we should be thankful! If our inheritance is from God, it seems reasonable to not want any other inheritance.

    The deception is that in the world we see a “shadow” of Jesus. All of was made through him and for him (Colossians 1:16). This means that it is easy to be deceived, or deceive ourselves, that we are following the right path for even the wrong paths have a shadow of Jesus. The skeptic (or the hopeful) might suggest this means that all paths lead to Jesus. Your shadow is an imperfect image of you that changes depending on the direction of the light source and the type of light source. It isn’t really you, just as the shadows of the world might look at times like Jesus, they really aren’t.

    ※Reflection※

    • What tensions do you see with Jesus loving the world, and the shadows of the world that may appear to look like Jesus?
    • What are some current issues/concerns of the world that appear to look like Jesus? How might those same issues not be like Jesus?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, stir in our hearts to claim and to the inheritance that rust and moths cannot destroy. Amen.

  • Getting Down

    Getting Down

    Psalm 130; Deuteronomy 1:34–40; 2 Corinthians 5:1–5

    If you’ve ever purchased a home using a loan, you usually had to come up with some sort of down payment. At least near me, a 10% down payment may be $70K or more. Part of that, of course, is the exceedingly high price of houses (and the prices continue to climb). The other part is the bank.

    The down payment exists to show that you have—so to —skin in the game. The bank is making from the loan, yes, but that is also based upon your ability to actually pay off the loan. A loan that cannot be paid back is not really worthwhile, and often even when left with a valuable house from a loan default, the bank will still likely lose money.

    Down payments are usually from the borrower to the lien-holder. Yet, the use the down payment concept in reverse. God is making the down payment. Even in Deuteronomy, the concept is there. It’s buried in the reality that God would “hold onto” the inheritance of the Promised Land until the Israelites that were children could grow into their inheritance.

    calls the Holy a down payment. God is a down payment. It sounds strange, that’s for sure. However, if we think along the lines of God on the cross for our sins (i.e., ), is the Holy Spirit that far out of line?

    ※Reflection※

    • What is the Holy Spirit a down payment for?
    • How does this down payment work in our lives right now?
    • Why does God holding onto the Promised Land for the generation imply to you about your ?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, grant us the ability to see what you have done and what you do for us. Help us to be fully enabled aides to your here on earth. Amen.

  • Passing It Off

    Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16; Romans 4:13–25; Mark 8:31–38

    I grew up with Richard Scarry books. One of my favorite stories was about the Bunny going to bed. As Daddy Bunny put each child to bed, each child shared their “” dream job. The last child said, “I’ll be what I’ll be,” and he dreamed to be a Daddy Bunny. Of course, my dad that I identified with that last child. One of my greatest honors is the fact that I am a dad.

    My perspective wasn’t that my kids would be my (not the thought pattern of a child), but Abraham’s was. Culturally, a person without a legacy (and the legacy being children than other things) was close to worthless. Ishmael ( with a ) and Isaac (son with the wife) were it (at this point).  Not much of a legacy for the era.

    Yet, Abraham’s imputed was because he believed (trusted) God when God said that Abraham would be the of nations. This is why centers on our inheritance through faith.

    Paul notes that we are Abraham’s legacy. We are Abraham’s children through faith, not (necessarily) by blood. While Paul is here dealing with the “inheritance” aspect of Jew versus Gentile, there are other aspects that we can examine.

    An inheritance is not “earned”. An inheritance is given. It is given by the person whose it is to the person (or people) whose it isn’t. Even when dealing with the how (blood or faith) of the inheritance, Paul overrides it all with the of the inheritance.

    ※Reflection※

    • Have you ever had an inheritance? Were you surprised by it?
    • What does having an inheritance from God mean to you? How is an inheritance from God different from an inheritance from a family member or someone else?

    ※Prayer※

    Gracious God, may we never view the inheritance we’ve been given as something we’ve earned or deserve. Amen.

  • Growing Knowledge

    Isaiah 5:18–24, Luke 11:37–44, 2 Corinthians 11:1–11

    Much of today’s passages revolve around religious leaders, religious know-it-alls, and egotistical maniacs using religious language. It is really easy to point out the flaw of our and of course everybody else’s religious leaders. Oddly enough, they’re human too. The easy thing to point out is when their pride gets the best of them, and it becomes about them, and not God. We should not be so quick.
    In Jewish tradition, just accepting one’s was being a child (which was good). Yet, owning one’s faith meant digging into God’s words and ways, especially with . Ignorance was no excuse. Christianity continued that tradition (despite what many naysayers would have you believe). We weren’t just to the faith, we were to embody the faith. There is one point where admonishes his charges to be eager to stop being children (“spiritual milk”) and become adults (“meat of the faith”). We are not to have a milk toast kind of faith.

    The flip side, however, is that there are those who take their to the extreme. These aren’t even the, “so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.” These are the people whose quest for knowledge or pride in having knowledge overrides their relationship with God and others. These people are often the religious leaders that struggled with. Their knowledge or legalistic formulae were perfect. Their walk was anything but.

    The “super-apostles” that Paul wrote about were people who were great debaters or scholars. They believed they have the corner on the right spiritual knowledge. They certainly had the rhetorical skills to make Paul acknowledge that he wasn’t good at public speaking. Yet, while he was religiously well-trained he set it aside to have a relationship with Corinthians so that they could see how the life was to be lived out. Paul took his knowledge and applied it to their lives. He also lived with them. He them. When we talk about # this is what we are talking about. Milk knowledge is starting knowledge. It is not supposed to stop there. That’s just the beginning. As we walk in the Christian life, we learn from and teach others. We struggle . We live life together. Great religious knowledge is the flip side of great religious ignorance. That little space between them is where we need to be.

    1) Have you ever experienced a Christian that saw themselves as so knowledgeable about the faith that you disliked them? What about that was uncomfortable for you?

    2) Have you ever experienced a person that called themselves a Christian, but as you talked with them, you realized they didn’t really understand what that meant? What was the feeling you had?

    3) The biggest thing about is walking beside one another. How can you walk alongside another in those situations above?

    FD) Isaiah uses the “woe”. There are 2 primary meanings: sadness and beware. Which do you think Isaiah meant?

  • Transformational Inheritance

    In the Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th Ed), (1) a is a gift of personal money or personal property, (2) something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor.

    What a dry way to kill a legacy.

    Abraham had plenty of personal property and wealth. He was successful from a material point of view. As we say today, though, you can’t take it with you. Stuff can only be given to or taken by others. Abraham was old and was looking at who would get his stuff. As he had no children, It was going to be a . While we often overlook this brief mention of Eliezer, this is a good example of someone preparing for the future without him in it. The small business owner that is a wise steward, will make preparations for the company after they are gone, especially for their employees and members who are dependent upon the business. Abraham was looking out for his people and their families.

    God then makes a to Abraham that Abraham will have a son to inherit Abraham’s wealth. Well, that’s the way Abraham took it. Then God took it up a notch and said that Abraham’s descendants would number like the stars in the sky. Then God said that there was this huge swath of land that Abraham’s descendants would get, too. While the wealth, property, and land were all good, it was Abraham’s faith (counted as ) that was the true legacy. Faith was the true inheritance.

    Through the wealth, property, and land, Abraham and his descendants prospered, fell into ruin, returned, prospered, fell, returned…and so on. Throughout it all, Abraham’s faith is what made it through all of it. Abraham’s faith was the legacy that he passed on, that he didn’t even for.

    Generations later, an infant boy was born in the City of David. This infant boy had 2 parents who were out of their element (so to speak) before he was born. These 2 parents were inheritors of Abraham’s legacy, and they experienced its fulfillment in a way unimaginable at that point.

    In his letter, Paul tells the Galatians (non-Jewish people, like most of us) that they (thus, us) are also inheritors to this legacy of Abraham. To play off of Paul’s words, the original inheritance that Abraham was concerned for was in regards to stuff, land, and the family ““. This is more along the lines of the child (or slave) who is in bondage to their immediate gratification (the stuff). The true inheritance is one of faith and relationship with God, the Father, that we receive through the gift of the Son, Christ. It is through the power and working of the Holy that we are transformed from child (bound by the world) to inheritor (free in faith).

    1. Elsewhere, Paul writes about childish things. What are some “childish” things that preoccupy your mind, heart, and soul?
    2. The “world” is often concerned about the stuff, and we, too, may fall into that trap. It is good stewardship (according to Scripture) to have an inheritance for your grandchildren. What kind of inheritance do you want to leave?
    3. What is the difference, if any, between inheritance and legacy?

    KD) What is one thing that you want people to about you?